Coffee brewer with automatic rate selectable dispense system and method

ABSTRACT

A coffee brewer ( 10, 10 ′ and  10 ′) is provided with a plurality of solenoid controlled, bi-position dispense valves ( 40, 40 ′), a size adjustable valve ( 60 ) or a combination of both and a programmable controller ( 18 ) for controlling the dispense valves in accordance with preselected brew parameters of batch quantity and dispense time duration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of and claims under 35 U.S.C. 120 thebenefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/969,490 filed Oct. 20, 2004, nowabandoned, which, is a division of and claims under 35 U.S.C. 120 thebenefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/078,749 filed Feb. 19, 2002, nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,829,981, which application, in turn, claims the benefit,under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.60/270,103, filed Feb. 20, 2001, and having the same title and inventoras the present application, and which is also a continuation in part ofand claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/698,689filed Oct. 27, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,906 issued Aug. 10, 2004,which is a divisional application of and claims the benefit of U.S.application Ser. No. 09/131,992 filed Aug. 11, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No.6,148,717.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to beverage brewers, and moreparticularly, beverage brewers that permit selectively changing batchquantities for different brew cycles.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

Both the time of contact of the not water with the beverage ingredientand the amount of hot water that is mixed with a given amount ofbeverage are critical to optimizing the quality of the resulting brewedbeverage. Different types of beverage ingredient, such as differenttypes of coffee, and different forms of a given beverage ingredient,such a given ground coffee of different degrees of coarseness requireddifferent amounts of hot water for optimum brewing of the resultingbeverage. However, until recently, known coffee brewers were unable toeasily adjust the quantity of hot water that is dispensed withoutchanging the duration of the dispensing time period. Likewise, it wasdifficult to easily adjust the duration of the dispense period withoutchanging the quantity of hot water that is to be dispensed.

However, with my invention shown and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,717issued Nov. 21, 2000 to Zbigniew G. Lassota for “Beverage Maker WithIntermittent Beverage Liquid Dispenser and Apparatus and Method forUniform Contact or Brew Ingredient with Brew”, which is herebyincorporated by reference, apparatus and methods were shown that enabledeasy selectively control of the average rate at which hot water isdispensed into a brew basket of a brewer so as to selectively change thequantity of hot water that is dispensed independently of the duration ofthe dispense period to optimize brew abstraction from the dry beverageingredient such as ground coffee during the brew cycle by intermittentlyoperating a single dispense valve. With the invention of that patent isalso possible to selectively change the length of the dispense timeperiod without changing the batch quantity, again for purposes ofoptimizing abstraction, by intermittently operating a single valve.

While intermittent operation works successfully for the intendedpurposes of fine-tuning control over the dispense period of the brewcycle, repeated operation of the dispense valve is required for eachdispense period with attendant mechanical wear and fatigue.

Other brewers are known in which the dispense valve is operatedcontinuously and in which the batch quantity may be changed, but thechange in quantity requires a change in the dispense time period andvice versa, and thus the desired degree of control of quantity anddispense period duration is not achievable.

It is also known to use a variable speed pump vary delivery rate on acontinuous basis rather than intermittently to enable independentcontrol of quantity and dispense time duration. Use of a pump believedto be subject to high maintenance costs due to the mechanical movementand liming. It is also known to use a flexible tube that are selectivelyrestricted to change the rate of flow into a brew basket but adjustmentis achieved only through manual adjustment of a control knob and the useof plastic tubing may be unsuitable for use with food and hot water.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a brewerand method of brewing that enable independent control of the batchquantities and the duration of the dispense time period during which hotwater is dispensed into the brew basket without the need forintermittent operation of a dispense valve or the disadvantages of avariable speed pump or flexible tube.

This objective is achieved in part by providing a beverage brewer with ahot water tank, means for maintaining a supply of hot dispense water ata preselected temperature and a brew basket for holding ingredient to bebrewed during a brew cycle into a preselected quantity of beverage bydispensing a preselected total quantity of hot dispense water throughthe ingredient, with an automatic rate selectable dispense system,having a dispense valve assembly for selectively passing hot dispensewater from the supply to the brew basket at different flow rates, and anelectronic controller for generating different control signals to thedispense valve assembly during a preselected fixed dispense time periodof the brew cycle to cause the valve assembly to continuously pass allthe total quantity of hot dispense water to the brew basket at differentnon-zero, positive flow rates, without interruption, throughout thepreselected fixed dispense period, the preselected dispense period beingthe entire period of the brew cycle during which dispense water ispassed to the brew basket.

The controller may be programmed to automatically generate differentones of the control signals during different portions of the dispensetime period to change the flow rate of the valve assembly during saiddifferent portions without changing the total quantity passed during thefixed dispense period and without changing the duration of the fixeddispense period. It may also be programmed to automatically generatedifferent ones of the control signals during different portions of thedispense time period to change the flow rate of the valve assemblyduring said different portions to change the total quantity passedduring the fixed dispense period and without changing the duration ofthe fixed dispense period. Further the controller may be programmed toautomatically generate different ones of the control signals to maintainthe total quantity of dispense water passed to the brew basket by thevalve assembly during different dispense periods of different durations.

Preferably, the dispense valve assembly is a size adjustable valvehaving a valve opening with a size that is changed to different sizes inresponse to the different control signal, respectively.

In another embodiment, the valve assembly includes a dispense valveintake manifold with an inlet connected to a hot water tank and aplurality of dispense intake manifold valve outlets, a dispense valveoutput manifold with a plurality of dispense output manifold valveinlets and an output manifold outlet for passing hot water to the brewbasket, a plurality of dispense valves with inlets respectivelyconnected to the plurality of dispense intake manifold valve outlets andwith valve outlets respectively connected to the plurality of dispenseoutput manifold valve inlets, and means for selectively controlling theopening and closing of the plurality of the dispense valves toselectively vary the rate of continuous flow of dispense water from thehot water tank to the brew basket.

The plurality of valves may be solenoid controlled valves having onlyone open position or one of the plurality of valves is a solenoidcontrolled valve with a plurality of different open positions. In eithercase the selectively controlling means is a programmable controller thatselectively opens different combinations of the plurality of valves toachieve different total flow rates through the manifold.

The objective of the invention is also achieved by providing in abeverage brewer with a hot water tank, means for maintaining a supply ofhot dispense water at a preselected temperature and a brew basket forholding ingredient to be brewed during a brew cycle into a preselectedquantity of beverage by dispensing a preselected total quantity of hotdispense water through the ingredient, a method automatically dispensinghot dispense water into the brew basket at different rates, byperforming the steps of selectively passing hot dispense water from thesupply to the brew basket at different flow rates through a variablerate dispense valve assembly, and automatically generating differentcontrol signals to the dispense valve assembly with an electroniccontroller during a preselected fixed dispense time period of the brewcycle to cause the valve assembly to continuously pass all the totalquantity of hot dispense water to the brew basket at different non-zero,positive flow rates, without interruption, throughout the preselectedfixed dispense period, the preselected dispense period being the entireperiod of the brew cycle during which dispense water is passed to thebrew basket.

Preferably, the dispense valve assembly is a size adjustable valvehaving a valve opening with a size that is changeable, and the methodincludes the step of automatically changing the size in response to thedifferent control signals to change to flow rate of the dispense valveassembly to different rates. Alternatively, the valve assembly includesa dispense valve intake manifold with an inlet connected to a hot watertank and a plurality of dispense intake manifold valve outlets, adispense valve output manifold with a plurality of dispense outputmanifold valve inlets and an output manifold outlet for passing hotwater to the brew basket, a plurality of dispense valves with inletsrespectively connected to the plurality of dispense intake manifoldvalve outlets and with valve outlets respectively connected to theplurality of dispense output manifold valve inlets, and the methodincludes the steps of selectively controlling the opening and closing ofthe plurality of the dispense valves to selectively vary the rate ofcontinuous flow of dispense water from the hot water tank to the brewbasket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing advantageous features will be described in detail andothers will be made apparent from the following detailed description ofa preferred embodiment of the invention that is given with reference tothe several figures of the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of one embodiment of the inventionthat employs a plurality of independently controlled dispense valvesthat have their inlets all connected to the brew basket at the samelevel;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the relevant portion differingfrom the embodiment of FIG. 1 of another embodiment of the inventionthat employs a plurality of independently controlled dispense valvesthat have their inlets connected to the brew basket at a plurality ofdifferent levels, respectively;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the relevant portion differingfrom the embodiment of FIG. 1 of yet another embodiment that employs asingle controllable size-adjustable valve to selectively vary dispensetimes or batch quantity;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of one embodiment of the controllablesize adjustable valve of FIG. 3 when the valve is fully closed;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the valve of FIG. 4 but with thevalve in a fully open position;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of the valve of FIGS. 4 and 5, butwith the valve in a one-third open position;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of the valve of FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, butwith the valve in a two-thirds open position; and

FIG. 8 is a logic flow chart for operation of the brewers of FIGS. 1-3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of a coffee brewer 10constructed in accordance with one aspect of the invention is seen toinclude a number of elements that are common to the other embodiments aswell as coffee brewers in general. These known elements include a hotwater tank 12 that receives cold water from a public water supply 14through a bi-position solenoid controlled fill valve 16. A programmablecontroller 18 controls the fill valve 16 and the other active elementsof the brewer. The programmable controller 18 has a computer with memoryfor receiving and storing user preselected parameters or other userprogrammable information or preselected and current brew parameters froma control panel 20 and automatic inputs from a level sensor 22 and atemperature sensor 24. The programmable controller 18 provides statusand other information at a display 26 that in addition to analphanumeric display may include various operating status lights.

The programmable controller 18 also provides a control signal to operatethe fill valve 16. When the level sensor 22 indicates that the level ofthe water in the hot water tank 12 is at a maximum preselected level,the solenoid controlled fill valve 16 is deactuated to cause it toclose, and when the water is detected at a minimum level beneath thepreselected maximum level, the fill valve 16 is opened. Thus, during adispense period of a brew cycle, when water is being removed from thehot water tank, the level is maintained between the preselected maximumlevel and the preselected minimum level so that the head pressure at thevalves remains relatively fixed during the dispense period. The fillvalve 16 fills the hot water tank 12 much more rapidly than the dispensevalves can empty it so that the preselected level is easily maintainedeven when the draining of hot water from the hot water tank 12 is at themaximum rate. Because the level and thus the head pressure remainsubstantially the same throughout the dispense period, measurements ofquantity may be easily be made by measuring the length of the dispenseperiod. The quantity of hot water dispensed is directly proportional tothe duration of the dispense period.

Likewise, the programmable controller 18 actuates a heater solenoid toapply electrical power to an electrical heater element, or heater, 30 toheat the water in the hot water tank when the temperature sensor 24indicates that the temperature is beneath a preselected minimumtemperature. When the temperature sensor 24 indicates that thetemperature has risen above another preselected maximum temperature,then the programmable controller 18 de-energizes the heater solenoid 28.The temperature of the water is thereby maintained between the maximumand minimum preselected temperatures.

For each brew cycle, a preselected amount of hot water is drained fromthe hot water tank 12 during a preselected dispense time period,corresponding to a preselected quantity of coffee to be made anddispensed through a dispense assembly 38 into a spray head 32. The sprayhead 32 then sprays the hot water over a mound of dry ground coffeecontained within a brew basket 34. The hot water passes through theground coffee to extract the coffee beverage ingredients desired to makethe freshly brewed coffee beverage that then passes from the brew basket34 into a serving urn 36.

All of these features of the brewer 10, except for the multi-valvedispense assembly 38 and the software in the controller for controllingmultiple dispense valves, are conventional, and the details thereof formno part of the present invention. If desired, reference should be madeto U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,082 entitled “Beverage Maker and Method Of MakingBeverage” issued Mar. 19, 1991 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,885, entitled“Semiautomatic Beverage Maker and Method” issued Jul. 26, 1994 of thepresent inventor and the patents cited therein, all of which are herebyincorporated by reference for general background information and forfurther details with respect to the structural, mechanical and otherdetails of the conventional components of coffee brewers and the like,with reference to the features noted above, and in general, withreference to the embodiments described below to the extent conventionalelements are disclosed in functional block form only and such detailsare desired.

In conventional brewers, the dispense assembly consists of a singlebi-position valve per brewing station. In the case of a brewer such asbrewer 10 in which the level of the hot water tank 12 is maintainedduring the dispense period of the brew cycle, the bi-position valve iskept continuously open for a preselected time corresponding to apreselected quantity of hot water to be dispensed. The valve has onlytwo positions: fully open and fully closed. When fully open, the flowrate is dictated by the water pressure at the level of the inlet to thebi-position valve. In the case of a fixed level system, such as thebrewer 10, the level of the hot water in the hot water tank is keptfixed throughout the dispense period so that the flow rate remainsconstant throughout the dispense time period. In this fashion, the totalquantity of water that is dispensed during a given dispense period isdirectly proportional to the duration of the dispense period that thatthe dispense valve is open. If it is desired to double the quantity,then it is necessary to double the dispense time period that thedispense valve is open. Likewise, if it is desired to increase thedispense period, then it is also necessary to increase the quantity.

In my U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,717 referenced above, it is noted that boththe time of contact of the hot water with the beverage ingredient andthe amount of hot water that is mixed with a given amount of beverageare critical to optimizing the quality of the resulting brewed beverage.While independent control of batch quantity and dispense time period isachieved with the intermittent operation of a single valve as shown inmy patent, such control has not been achievable with a bi-positiondispense valve that is operated continuously.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.1, this independent control is achieved with a novel dispense assembly38. The dispense assembly 38 has a plurality of solenoid controlledbi-position valves 40, preferably three, respectively labeled dispensevalve A, dispense valve B and dispense valve C. In one form of theinvention, all or at least a plurality of the bi-position dispensevalves 40 are substantially identical with respect to the size of theirvalve openings, each of the valves 40 passing the hot water from the hotwater tank at the same rate of flow for the same given pressure. Inanother form of the invention, all or at least a plurality of thedispense valves are of different sizes associated with different flowrates. The inlets of all the dispense valves are connected through avalve inlet manifold 42 to a single preselected level at hot water tankdispense outlet 44, so they all experience substantially the same headpressure caused by the water in the hot water tank 12. The outlets ofall of the dispense valves are connected through a dispense valve outletmanifold 46 to a shared, or common, dispense valve inlet 48 to the sprayhead 32.

In one mode of operation, preferably, although not necessarily, when allthe dispense valves are of the same size, different batch quantities canbe obtained without changing the length of the dispense period byselectively simultaneously opening different numbers of the valves.Presuming all the dispense valves are of the same size, and that onevalve passes one half gallon of hot water in a dispense period of fourminutes when fully open, the when two of the dispense valves aresimultaneously opened for the entire dispense period, twice as much, orone entire gallon, will be dispensed during the four minute dispenseperiod. Likewise, if it is desired to make a one and one half gallonbatch of coffee, all three valves are opened for the entire dispenseperiod of four minutes. Similarly, if it is desired to produce 0.75gallon, then one of the dispense valves is kept open for the entiredispense period while another one of the bi-position valves 40 is openedonly during the second half of the dispense period. Other combination ofvalves and time periods during which they are fully and continuouslyopened may be selected for any other batch quantities, as will beapparent to those skilled in the art.

Alternatively, the plurality of dispense valves 40 are selectivelycontrolled to decrease the dispense time period without altering thebatch quantity. For instance, if two of the solenoid dispense valvesremaining open for four minutes yields a batch size of one gallon, thenthe dispense time period can be shortened to 2⅔ minutes by opening allthree of the dispense valves without changing the batch size of onegallon. Other like changes of dispense time periods may be made byopening other combinations of dispense valves 40 for preselected timeperiods to keep batch size the same while changing the dispense timeperiod. Of course, it is also possible to selectively change both thedispense time period and the batch quantity

In addition to obtaining the increase flexibility and control over batchsize versus dispense time period, the brewer 10 is also more robust thanconventional brewers that have only a single dispense valve, for even ifone of the plurality of dispense valves 40 should become non-functional,the other dispense valves 40 can continue to be used to make batchquantities less than the maximum sized batch for a given dispense timeperiod.

While the use of all dispense valves 40 of the same size reduces theneed for inventorying more than one type of replacement dispense valveand may simplify assembly and repair and simplify programming, it isalso contemplated that at least two of the dispense valve 40 are ofdifferent size. For instance one of the dispense valves 40, such asvalve A, may be twice as large as the other two dispense valves 40, suchas valves B and C, to achieve different batch ratios than when they areall the same. In the case of one dispense valve 40, such as valve A,being twice as large as the other two dispense valves 40, opening onerelatively small valve, such as valve B, would yield one half gallon;opening two small valves, such as valve B and C, or one large dispensevalve, dispense valve A, for instance, would yield one gallon; openingone small valve C and the one larger valve A would yield one and onehalf gallons; and opening two small valve B and C and the one largevalve A would yield two gallons.

Alternatively, the three dispense valves 40 are three different sizesrespectively associated with three different flow rates and threecorrespondingly different batch sizes, such as 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 gallons.In such case, only a singly one of the valves need be opened at a timeto obtain the three noted batch sizes. However, by simultaneouslyopening a plurality of the different valves additional batch quantities(2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 gallons) can be achieved without changing the dispensetime period.

It is preferred that the brewer 10 of FIG. 1 be operated as a continuousfill system in which the level of the water in the hot water tank 12 bekept constant during the dispense period to maintain a uniform pressureand a resultant linear relationship between time and quantity and alsoto reduce or eliminate recovery time between brew cycles. This is thesystem described above. However, the embodiment of FIG. 1 with all ofthe valves connected at the same level of the dispense outlet 44 couldalso be used in a so-call “dump system”. In a dump system type maker thehot water tank is not refilled during the dispense period. Instead, thehot water tank is permitted to drain down to a preselected levelassociated with a preselected batch quantity.

Disadvantageously, before a new brew cycle can commence the hot watertank must be refilled and the temperature brought up to the preselectedminimum temperature. Nonetheless, the brewer 10 of FIG. 1 could be used,or operated, as a “dump system”, and the invention contemplates such anembodiment. In such case, because the flow rate slows as the water levelgoes down and the relationship between time and quantity is not linear,care must be taken to determine the correct dispense time to batchquantity relationship. An empirical determination is recommended. If thetank 12 is allowed to drain down to the level of the dispense outlet 44,then the quantity is fixed by the difference between the level to whichthe hot water tank is filled before the start of a brew cycle and thelevel of the dispense outlet 44. However, the time for dispensing thisknown quantity can be selectively changed by selectively opening one ormore of the plurality of bi-position dispense valves 40, as discussedabove, whether they are of the same size or of different sizes.

While the dispense valve 40 have been indicated as being onlybi-positional valves, and that is the preferred embodiment, it should beappreciated that a multi-positional valve with different sized openpositions, such as disclosed in FIGS. 4-7 and described below, couldalso be used for one or more of the plurality of the dispense valves 40,of FIG. 1. In such case, there would be multiple levels of control overthe total dispense valve area—both the number of valves and the size, atleast of some or one, of the valves could be selected to selectivelyvary dispense time period or the quantity, as the case may be.

Referring now to FIG. 2, another brewer constructed in accordance withthe invention is shown in which the hot water tank has three differentsized solenoid controlled valve 40′ that are labeled dispense valve D,dispense valve E and dispense valve F. Unlike the solenoid valves 40, ofFIG. 1, the three solenoid valves 40′ have individual valve inlets thatconnected to the hot water tank 12 at three different locations, orlevels, 50, 52 and 54, respectively associated with three differentbatch quantities, such as 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 gallons, respectively. Anoutput manifold 56 has a plurality of valve inlets that are connected tothe valve outlets of the three dispenser valves 40′, respectively, andan outlet 58 that connects all the dispenser valve outlets of thedispenser valve 40′ to the spray head 32. Preferably, the brewer 10′ ofFIG. 2 is “dump system” type of brewer in which the fill valve 16 is notopened and the hot water tank 12 is not refilled until after the end ofa dispense period. The batch size is determined by the difference inlevels between the maximum level when the hot water tank 12 is filledand the lowest level at which one of the dispense valves 40′ is openeduntil the water in the tank is drained to that level. In know brewers ofthis “dump system” type there is only a single dispense valve and thusonly one batch size, or if it is known to provide multiple valves atdifferent levels, they are the same size such that different batch sizesrequires proportionately longer dispense time periods to drain thedifferent quantities.

Preferably, the sizes of the dispense valves 40′ are indirectlyproportional to the level at which their inlets are connected to the hotwater tank 12. For instance, if the dispense valve D is at the level 50for dispensing 0.5 gallons, the dispense valve E is at the level 52 fordispensing 1.0 gallon and the dispense valve F is at the level 54 fordispensing 1.5 gallons, then the dispense valve D may be one-third thesize of the dispense valve E and one half the size of the dispense valveE, so that all of the different quantities may be dispensed during theapproximately the same dispense period, when only one of the dispensevalves 40′ is opened at the same time.

It is, of course, also be possible to increase the total dispense rateby opening a plurality of the dispense valves simultaneously. Forinstance, if a 1.5 gallon batch were to be made, the dispense time couldbe shortened from that provide by the opening of only dispense valve F,by also opening dispense valve E or both dispense valve D and E, inaddition to opening dispense valve F. Once the level passes the inletlevel of a particular dispense valve in question, then of course it canno longer contribute to the dispensing of the hot water, but so long asthe water level is above the inlet level it can.

Referring now to a third form of the present invention shown in FIG. 3,instead of using a plurality of valves to achieve independent control ofbatch quantity and dispense time period, a single controllable sizeadjustable valve 60. The size adjustable valve is has one inletconnected to the hot water tank and an outlet connected to the sprayhead 32. The controllable size adjustable valve 60 changes in size areincremental and the valve is constructed and operates as described withreference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Referring first to FIG. 4, the controllable size adjustable valve 60 hasa valve opening plate 62 that underlies and is slidably attached to avalve closure plate 64 by suitable rails, guides or U-shaped clamps. Thevalve opening plate 62 is mounted in a fixed position, and the valveclosure plate 64 is generally held in blocking, fully closed position,as shown in FIG. 4, by a suitable bias spring 66. In the fully closedposition, a valve opening 68 in the valve opening plate 62 is fullycovered and blocked by the valve closure plate 64. One side of a fixedlymounted upstanding blocking pin 70 attached to the valve opening plate66 blocks a laterally extending pin engagement member 72 carried by theclosure plate 64 at the end adjacent the spring 66 to prevent the biasspring from causing the valve closure plate 64 to over-travel in thedirection of arrow 72.

The other side of the closure plate 64 is connected through a mechanicallinkage 76 to a size adjustable valve solenoid 78 that is selectivelyenergized under control of the programmable controller 18. When thesolenoid is cause to become energized, overcomes the force of the biasspring 66 and pulls the closure plate 64 in a direction opposite toarrow 74. In the absence of any interference, each time the solenoidbecame energized it would pull the closure plate to a fully openposition in which the entire valve opening 68 is uncovered andunblocked, as shown in FIG. 5. The closure plate 64 is prevented fromover-traveling in a direction opposite to that of arrow 74 by engagementof the engagement member 72 with a fixedly mounted upstanding post 76connected to the side of the valve opening plate 62.

In accordance with the invention, and again referring to FIG. 4, thereare two other solenoid controlled, movably mounted, intermediate stoppins 79 and 80 respectively connected to and controlled by stop actuatorsolenoids, or stop actuators, 82 and 84. The pin 80 is associated withthe ⅓ open stop actuator and when energized by the programmablecontroller 18, moves to an upright position. In this upright position,the pin 80 is in the path of the engagement member 72. If the pin 80 isin an upright blocking position, when the valve closure plate is 64 ispulled in a direction opposite to arrow 74 by the size adjustable valvesolenoid 78, then the engagement member 72 is blocked by the pin 80 frommoving to the fully open position shown in FIG. 5 and instead moves onlyto the ⅓ open position shown in FIG. 6. As seen in FIG. 6, the pin 80 isat a longitudinal location to hold the lagging edge of the valve closureplate 64 at a position in which it blocks only ⅔ of the valve opening68. Likewise, when the ⅔ open stop actuator 84 is energized, the pin 79moves upwardly to a position to engage the engagement member 72 to blockthe leading edge of the valve closure plate 64 from moving to a fullyclosed position. Instead, the leading edge is stopped at a ⅔ openposition, as shown in FIG. 7.

In order to select the different sizes for the valve opening, it is ofcourse preferable to follow a timing sequence in which the engagementmember 72 is at the fully closed position shown in FIG. 4, at thebeginning of a brew cycle. Then, if it is desired to operate thecontrollable sized adjustable valve 60 at a ⅓ open position, the ⅓ openstop actuator 84 is first actuated to place the blocking pin 80 in thepath of the engagement member 72 prior to energizing the size adjustablevalve solenoid 78 to start moving the closure plate 64 toward a fullyclosed position. If the size adjustable valve solenoid 78 is energizedtoo soon, then the pin 80 will not be in a blocking position withrespect to the engagement member 72 and the closure plate will not beblocked at the appropriate ⅔ open position. Likewise, the ⅔ open stopactuator must be actuated in time before passage of the engagementmember in response to energizing of the size adjustable valve solenoid78 to block the engagement member 72 with the pin 79 before it goes byon the way to a fully closed position, as shown in FIG. 5. Preferably,the stop actuators 82 and 84 are energized first before energizing ofthe size adjustable valve solenoid 78, although this may not necessarilytechnically be required so long as the appropriate pin comes up in timeto block the engagement member.

It should be appreciated that this is only one form of size adjustablevalve that would work successfully. For instance, instead of having aplurality of solenoid operated blocking pins, like pins 79 and 80, atfixed positions, the positions could be adjustable, such as by mountingthe stop actuators on a track parallel to the side of the valve opening68. While only two fixed-position actuators have been illustrated, manymore stop actuators may be added at other fixed or movable or adjustablepositions. Instead of having a choice between three positions, therecould be ten positions or more or less. If a single stop actuator ismounted on a motor controlled track then the stop position can be placeat any location within the resolution capability of a servomotor formoving the stop member to any position along the side of the valveopening at which the engagement member may be engaged.

Also, instead of a size adjustable valve like that shown in FIGS. 4-7,employing stop members at different locations along a sliding valveclosure, the valve could be a rotary adjustable valve adjusted manuallyor automatically, such as a size adjustable kitchen sink faucet orgarden hose nozzle, or commercial equivalents, all driven by aservo-motor with position feedback to the controller for selecting thedesired valve opening size, or flow rate, or dispense time, if notcontrolled manually. Alternatively, a circular diaphragm valve of thetype having a plurality of members that move relative to one another tochange the size of a generally circular valve opening. Any type ofcontrollable valve that can be adjusted in size through the applicationof control signals from the programmable controller 18 can be used.Importantly, the valve must be made of rigid metal elements that arenonabsorbent of the beverage ingredients and which can be thoroughlycleaned with solvents and hot water without damage to the valve.Preferably, the valve will also be designed reduce calcification orliming problems associated with hot water control systems.

It is of course possible to combine any of the features of the inventionto achieve other combinations and permutations, and now that theinvention has been disclosed here, it should be obvious to those skilledin the art that such combinations may be made. For instance, analogadjustable valves, such as electromechanically controlled nozzles orfaucets, in addition to servomotors for analog adjustment may also havea feed that is solenoid controlled on an on/off basis. The control ofthe valve size is preferably achieved in accordance with the differenttechniques illustrated and disclosed as alternatives above dependingupon the type and number of size adjustable valves. There are manyengineering tradeoffs that will occur to a person in the art ofcommercial coffee maker design that are not disclosed here as to whichapproach they may feel is best for a particular coffee maker project.Likewise, it should be appreciated that while only three valves areshown in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2, either only two valves couldbe used if less selections were desired or more than three solenoidcontrolled valves could be used if a greater number of selections wasdesired.

The precise control program of the programmable controller 18 or thetype of computer used or the other details of the programmablecontroller form no part of the invention and depend upon indeterminatefactors such as cost and capability that is desired. Generally howeverthe programs works in accordance with the flow chart of FIG. 8. Afterstart 86 of the brew parameter selection program, in step 88 theavailable batch sizes are displayed on the display 26, FIG. 1, and theuser is prompted to select one of the sizes. If in step 90, it isdetermined that a batch size has been selected, the programmablecontroller 18 causes the display 26 to show the user the availabledispense times that may be available for selection based upon the batchquantity selection made in step 90. Depending upon batch size certaindispense times may or may not be available. In step 94, if the dispensetime has been selected the program proceeds to step 96 in which thecomputer looks up in a table or otherwise determines based upon thebatch size and dispense time period selected, which one or ones of thedispense valves should be opened and for how long they should be openedand when they should be opened within the dispense period in the case ofthe multi-valve embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2. In the case of the singlesize adjustable dispense valve of the embodiment of FIG. 3, or if usedas one of the valves in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2, the computerdetermines the degree or size to which the size adjustable valve orvalves should be opened and for how long of a time period they shouldremain open.

The programmable controller then awaits the start of a brew cycle, andin step 98 when it is detected that the start brew switch at the controlpanel 20 has been actuated to start a new brew cycle, in step 100 theprogrammable controller operates the dispense valve or valves 40, 40′,60 or any combination of them being used together, in accordance withthe preselection, or determination, in step 96 of which dispense valvesare opened, the size to which each of the size adjustable valves shouldbe adjusted, for how long the selected dispense valves remain open andwhen during the dispense period should the selected dispense valves beopened. At the end of the brew cycle, the program returns to start 86.

While specific embodiments have been disclosed in detail here, it shouldbe appreciated that many variations may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention. For instance, while theembodiments have been disclosed as operating the dispense valvescontinuously once they are opened, it is contemplated that one or moreof the dispense valves may be operated incrementally, being repetitivelyopened and closed throughout the dispense time period, such as is taughtin my aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,717. Also, one or more of thevalves may be opened and then closed at the start of the dispense periodto provide a wetting period. Moreover, while the invention has beendescribed with reference to a coffee brewer, it is equally applicable toa tea brewer or any other similar beverage brewer in which water must bepassed through an ingredient on a controlled basis of time and quantityto achieve optimum extraction from the ingredient and to optimize thequality of the beverage being brewed.

The invention claimed is:
 1. In a beverage brewer with a hot water tank,means for maintaining a supply of hot dispense water at a preselectedtemperature and a brew basket for holding ingredient to be brewed duringa brew cycle into a preselected quantity of beverage by dispensing apreselected total quantity of hot dispense water into the brew basket,the improvement being an automatic rate selectable dispense system,comprising: a variable rate dispense valve assembly capable ofselectively passing hot dispense water from the supply to the brewbasket at different preselected, continuous, non-zero, nonintermittentflow rates; means for selecting one of a plurality of selectable brewcycles with a plurality of combinations of predetermined batch size anddispense period of predetermined duration; a start brew switch; and anelectronic controller responsive to a single momentary, actuation of thestart brew switch for automatically performing the selected brew cycle,said controller including means for automatically determining, based onthe brew cycle selected, a plurality of nonintermittent, continuous flowrates at which hot dispense water will be passed to the brew basketduring different preselected portions respectively, of the dispenseperiod associated with the selected brew cycle; said selected brew cyclebeing performed by the controller providing to the variable ratedispense valve assembly, in accordance with a preselected brew cycleprogram, different preselected control signals representative ofdifferent non-zero, positive, continuous, nonintermittent flow rates ofthe variable rate dispense valve assembly at preselected differentportions of the dispense time period of the selected brew cycle to causethe valve assembly to pass all the preselected quantity of hot dispensewater of the batch size of the selected brew cycle to the brew basket atdifferent, preselected nonzero, positive how rates respectivelycorresponding to the different preselected control signals during thepreselected portions of the dispense period of the selected brew cycle,the dispense period being the entire period of the brew cycle duringwhich all the quantity of hot dispense water of the batch sizeassociated with the selected, brew cycle is passed to the brew basket,and automatically ending a predetermined time after the single,momentary, actuation of the start switch.
 2. The beverage brewer ofclaim 1 including means for programming the controller to automaticallygenerate different ones of the control signals during different portionsof the dispense time period to change the flow rate of the valveassembly to different preselected flow rates during said differentportions, without changing the total quantity passed during the fixeddispense period, without changing the duration of the fixed dispenseperiod, and without interruption of continuous, non-intermittent passageof the hot dispense water into the brew basket.
 3. The beverage brewerof claim 1 including means for programming the controller toautomatically generate different ones of the control signals duringdifferent portions of the dispense time period to change the flow rateof the valve assembly during said different portions to change the totalquantity passed during the fixed dispense period and without changing,the duration of the fixed dispense period.
 4. The beverage brewer ofclaim 1 including means for programming the controller to automaticallygenerated different ones of the control signals to maintain the totalquantity of dispense water passed to the brew basket by the valveassembly during different dispense periods of different durations. 5.The beverage brewer of claim 1 in which the dispense valve assembly is asize adjustable valve having a valve opening with a size that is changedto different sizes in response to the different control signals,respectively.
 6. The beverage brewer of claim 5 in which the sizeadjustable valve is incrementally adjusted in response to the differentcontrol signals, respectively.
 7. The beverage brewer of claim 6 inwhich the size adjustable valve is a solenoid controlled valve.
 8. Thebeverage brewer of claim 7 in which the size adjustable valve is made ofrelatively rigid metal.
 9. The beverage brewer of claim 6 in which thesize adjustable valve has a plurality of controllable stops for stoppinga valve closure at a plurality of different open positions respectivelyassociated, with the plurality of controllable stops.
 10. In a beveragebrewer with a hot water tank, means for maintaining a supply of hotdispense water at a preselected temperature and a brew basket forholding ingredient to be brewed during a brew cycle into a preselectedquantity of beverage by dispensing a preselected total quantity of hotdispense water through the ingredient, the improvement being anautomatic rate selectable dispense system, comprising: a dispense valveassembly for selectively passing hot dispense water from the supply tothe brew basket at different flow rates, the dispense valve assemblyincluding a dispense valve intake manifold with an inlet connected to ahot water tank and a plurality of dispense intake manifold valveoutlets, a dispense valve output manifold with a plurality of dispenseoutput manifold valve inlets and an output manifold outlet for passinghot water to the brew basket, a plurality of dispense valves with inletsrespectively connected to the plurality of dispense intake manifoldvalve outlets and with valve outlets respectively connected to theplurality of dispense output manifold valve inlets, and means forselectively controlling the opening and closing of the plurality of thedispense valves to selectively vary the rate of continuous flow ofdispense water from the hot water tank to the brew basket; and anelectronic controller for generating different control signals to thedispense valve assembly during a preselected fixed dispense time periodof the brew cycle to cause the valve assembly to continuously pass allthe total quantity of hot dispense water to the brew basket at differentnon-zero, positive flow rates, without interruption, throughout thepreselected fixed dispense period, the preselected dispense period beingthe entire period of the brew cycle during which dispense water ispassed to the brew basket.
 11. The beverage brewer of claim 10 in whichthe plurality of valves are solenoid controlled valves having only oneopen position.
 12. The beverage brewer of claim 10 in which at least oneof the plurality of valves is a solenoid controlled valve with aplurality of different open positions.
 13. The beverage brewer of claim10 in which the selectively controlling means is a programmablecontroller that selectively opens different combinations of theplurality of valves to achieve different total flow rates through themanifold.
 14. In a beverage brewer with a hot water tank, means formaintaining a supply of hot dispense water at a preselected, temperatureand a brew basket for holding ingredient to be brewed during a brewcycle into a preselected quantity of beverage by dispensing a hotdispense water into the brew basket, the improvement being a method ofautomatically controlling the dispensing of the hot dispense water intothe brew basket, comprising the steps of: providing an electronicallycontrollable variable rate dispense valve assembly capable ofselectively passing hot dispense water from the supply of hot dispensewater to the brew basket at different preselected, continuous, non-zero,nonintermittent flow rates; selecting one of a plurality of selectablebrew cycles with a plurality of combinations of predetermined batch sizeand dispense period of predetermined duration; automaticallydetermining, based on the brew cycle selected, nonintermittent flowrates at which hot dispense water will be passed to the brew basketduring different portions of the dispense period associated with theselected brew cycle; manually starting the selected brew cycle with asingle, momentary, actuation of a start brew switch; and responding tothe actuation of the start switch with a controller to perform theselected brew cycle by automatically providing, in accordance with apreselected brew cycle program associated with the selected brew cycle,different preselected control signals at preselected different portionsof the dispense valve assembly during the dispense time period of theselected brew cycle to cause the variable rate valve assembly tocontinuously, nonintermittently pass all the preselected batch sizedquantity of hot dispense water to the brew basket at different non-zero,positive flow rates respectively corresponding to the different controlsignals during the predetermined dispense period of the selected brewcycle, the predetermined dispense period being the entire period of thebrew cycle during which all the total quantity of dispense water ispassed to the brew basket, said dispense period automatically ending apreselected time after the single, momentary, actuation of the startswitch.
 15. The method of claim 14 including the step of programming thecontroller to automatically generate different ones of the controlsignals during different portions of the dispense time period to changethe flow rate of the valve assembly during said different portionswithout changing the total quantity passed during the fixed dispenseperiod, without changing the duration of the fixed dispense period, andwithout interruption of continuous, non-intermittent passage of the hotdispense water into the brew basket.
 16. The method of claim 14including the step of programming the controller to automaticallygenerate different ones of the control signals during different portionsof the dispense time period to change the flow rate of the valveassembly during said different portions to change the total quantitypassed during the fixed dispense period and without changing theduration of the fixed dispense period.
 17. The method 14 including thestep of programming the controller to automatically generated differentones of the control signals to maintain the total quantity of dispensewater passed to the brew basket by the valve assembly during differentdispense periods of different durations.
 18. The method of claim 14 inwhich the dispense valve assembly is a size adjustable valve having avalve opening with a size that is changeable, and including the step ofautomatically changing the size in response to the different controlsignals to change the flow rate of the dispense valve assembly todifferent rates.
 19. The method of claim 18 in which the step ofautomatically changing the size includes the step of incrementallyadjusted the size of the valve assembly to different sizes in responseto the different control signals, respectively.
 20. The method of claim19 in which the size adjustable valve is a solenoid controlled valve.21. The method of claim 20 in which the size adjustable valve is made ofrelatively rigid metal.
 22. The method of claim 19 in which the sizeadjustable valve has a plurality of controllable stops for stopping avalve closure at a plurality of different open positions respectivelyassociated with the plurality of controllable stops.
 23. The method ofclaim 14 including the step of automatically controlling the size of thevalve to open to different sizes in accordance with differentpredetermined manual electric, switch inputs to the controller.
 24. In abeverage brewer with a hot water tank, means for maintaining a supply ofhot dispense water at a preselected, temperature and a brew basket forholding ingredient to be brewed during a brew cycle into a preselectedquantity of beverage by dispensing a preselected total quantity of hotdispense water through the ingredient, the improvement being a methodautomatically dispensing hot dispense water into the brew basket atdifferent rates, comprising the steps of: selectively passing, hotdispense water from the supply to the brew basket at different flowrates through a variable rate dispense valve assembly, the variable ratevalve assembly including a dispense valve intake manifold with an inletconnected to a hot water tank and a plurality of dispense intakemanifold valve outlets, a dispense valve output manifold with aplurality of dispense output manifold valve inlets and an outputmanifold outlet for passing hot water to the brew basket, and aplurality of dispense valves with inlets respectively connected to theplurality of dispense intake manifold valve outlets and with valveoutlets respectively connected to the plurality of dispense outputmanifold valve inlets; automatically generating different controlsignals to the variable rate dispense valve assembly with an electroniccontroller during a preselected fixed dispense time period of the brewcycle to cause the valve assembly to continuously pass all the totalquantity of hot dispense water to the brew basket at different non-zero,positive flow rates, without interruption, throughout the preselectedfixed dispense period, the preselected dispense period being the entireperiod of the brew cycle during which dispense water is passed to thebrew basket; and selectively controlling the opening and closing of theplurality of the dispense valves to selectively vary the rate ofcontinuous flow of dispense water from the hot water tank to the brewbasket.
 25. The method of claim 24 in which the plurality of valves aresolenoid controlled valves having only one open position.
 26. The methodof claim 24 in which at least one of the plurality of valves is asolenoid controlled valve with a plurality of different open positions.27. The method of claim 24 in which the selectively controlling means isa programmable controller that selectively opens different combinationsof the plurality of valves to achieve different total flow rates throughthe manifold.